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The Football League is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football. It was the top-level football league in England from its foundation in the 19th century until 1992, when the top 22 clubs split away to form the Premier League. The Football League has been associated with a title sponsor since 1983. As this sponsor has changed over the years the league too has been known by various names.〔After its title sponsors, the Football League has formerly been known as the Canon League, the Today League, the Barclays League, the Endsleigh League, the Nationwide Football League, the Coca-Cola Football League and the npower Football League〕 Since 1995 it has had 72 clubs evenly divided into three divisions, which are known as the Championship, League One, and League Two, with 24 clubs in each division. Promotion and relegation between these divisions is a central feature of the League and is further extended to allow the top Championship clubs to exchange places with the lowest-placed clubs in the Premier League, and the bottom clubs of League Two to switch with the top clubs of the National League, thus integrating the League into the English football league system. Although primarily a competition for English clubs, clubs from Wales, Newport County, Cardiff City and Swansea City, also take part, while in the past Wrexham, Merthyr Town and Aberdare Athletic have been members. The Football League is also the name of the governing body of the league competition, and this body also organises two knock-out cup competitions, the Football League Cup and the Football League Trophy. The operations centre of The Football League is in Preston, while its commercial office is in London.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Contact The Football League )〕 It was formerly based in Lytham St Annes, after its original spell in Preston. In November 2015, the league announced that it would rename itself as the English Football League (EFL) starting from the 2016–17 season. ==Overview== The Football League consists of 70 professional association football clubs in England and 2 in Wales. It runs the oldest professional football league competition in the world. It also organises two knockout cup competitions, the Football League Cup and Football League Trophy. The Football League was founded in 1888 by then Aston Villa director William McGregor, originally with 12 member clubs. Steady growth and the addition of more divisions meant that by 1950 the League had 92 clubs. Financial considerations led to a major shake-up in 1992 when, in a step to maximise their revenue, the leading members of the Football League broke away to form their own competition, the FA Premier League, which was renamed in 2007 as the Premier League. The Football League therefore no longer includes the top 20 clubs who belong to this group, although promotion and relegation between the Football League and the Premier League continues. In total, 136 teams have played in the Football League up to 2013 (including those in the Premier League, since clubs must pass through the Football League before reaching the former). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Football League」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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